


Know Your Drill

by Jolien



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Bomb Found, Evacuation, Gen, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jolien/pseuds/Jolien
Summary: Billy's new neighborhood has to be evacuated.





	Know Your Drill

It was half past six on a hot Monday afternoon and Billy had just thrown his work bag into the hallway closet and toed off his uncomfortable but shiny black oxfords when the doorbell rang. Still leaning with his back to the cool plastic of the door, he opened it one-handedly.

Outside, a man in a dark blue t-shirt smiled at him. “Good evening, sir. I’m with the community fire department. There has been a bomb found on the construction site one street over and we need you to leave your house.”

Billy had to focus to understand. The man spoke the local language, which was still mostly new to him. He blinked. “A bomb? Like, from terrorists?”

He’d come here specifically because it was said to be a quiet neighborhood. The perfect place for young families to raise kids. He had neither one or the other as of yet, but he appreciated not having downtown drunks in front of his window every night.

The man laughed. “No, thank god. It’s an aircraft bomb, dropped in World War II. Sometimes they don’t explode. Back when they built these houses, no one thought to check before laying the foundations, that’s why they only come up during reconstructions.”

“How dangerous are they, if they had a whole house standing on them for...” Billy frowned. How long had it been, exactly? “Seventy years?”

“Oh, dangerous enough.” The man nodded sagely. “That’s why we need everyone to leave. Please alert any family members you might have who live here as well, and of course anyone who is out right now but could potentially come home while we’re working on disarming the bomb. And if you have any friends living close by... We’re going from door to door now, but some folks just don’t react if they don’t know who’s coming, or see the police cars.”

“I –,” Billy broke off. He’d only moved in two weeks ago and literally didn’t know anyone, but he didn’t need to say that to a random firefighter. “Is there a place I can wait at?”

The man smiled. “Yes, we’ve prepared a few rooms at the local high school for the evacuees. Do you know the way?”

“I’m sure google knows it.”

The cheery attitude didn’t waver for a second. “Let me give you the address.”

Which was how Billy found himself at Seven Heroes High School on Rose Creek Road ten minutes later, nothing in his backpack except half a bottle of stale water, a flattened, more-brown-than-yellow banana and today’s paperwork, which he had really hoped not to have to look at again, at least not while sober.

He was faintly glad he’d had the good sense to walk here, like the fireman suggested, because a lot of stupid people apparently decided the three hundred meters were worth hopping into the car for. The parking lot was stuffed: decade-old Renaults and Opels snuggled up to tiny Smarts and brand new BMWs, their doors close enough to leave some nasty scratches in the varnish. Additionally, the roads in Europe were way narrower than in the US, making parking on the sides nigh on impossible. The line was backed up right to the closest major street.

Billy hoped they had air conditioning: despite the first pinks of a slow dusk on the horizon, it was thirty-three degrees out.

The school was quite tiny compared to the ones he had seen across the pond. He entered through the front door, which led straight into a small assembly hall crowded with people. Most of them were in business suits like him, full-on or stripped to the vest, some wore uniforms of different trades. In between mingled mothers and fathers with laughing, crying or angry toddlers in strollers, looking just as haggard as their hastily woken offspring. Every kid old enough to escape on their own two legs seemed to be having a blast by the soft drink table. Over everything, a cloud of not-English floated that Billy struggled to understand.

He stiffly made his way to the closest empty spot by the wall. He didn’t try to approach anyone, even though everyone else seemed to have someone to talk to. A few of the faces might have looked familiar, in the vague way that the grocery-store cashier did, but he didn’t really recognize any of his neighbors. Walking up to a random stranger was just… too weird.

Then again, Billy didn’t mind standing around on the sidelines. Most of his life had been like this, with him quietly observing while other people were out there _experiencing_. He felt like he should regret that, but he didn’t, even if it could be a little lonely, at times.

A crackling sound sizzled through the air, followed by the middle lyrics of a new rap song: the volunteer helpers had found a way to make their radio work. They turned up the music, making the kids shriek louder to be heard. Billy winced. He wished he’d brought his earplugs.

“Don’t worry, I promise you won’t be here a second longer than your face looks right now.”

Billy startled. “What?”

A man towered over him. He was thin and gawky, with a scruffy five o’clock shadow, sparkling brown eyes and a ragged burst of an accent. A dark blue uniform clung to his slim form, and he held a glass of fizzing coke in one long-fingered hand. He grinned broadly. “We just have to wait for the news to come on and tell us we can go back. Shouldn’t take more than an hour or so.”

“Are you a firefighter?”

The uniform strongly suggested it.

“Trying to be.” The man shrugged, coke swishing in his glass. “But apparently not trained enough to be let in on this. They cut short my barbecue. Didn’t even have time to put out the coals. Then again, if the yard burns down, maybe they let me come over and help.”

He winked, and Billy tried instinctively to take a step backwards. Since he was already leaning against the wall, it only made him hit his heel.

Thankfully, the man didn’t even seem to notice. “Here’s not so bad, though. Free coke. Or Pepsi, if you’re one of _those_.”

Billy snorted. “I’d rather have air conditioning. Or a chair.”

Speaking of which, wasn’t this supposed to be a school? Last time he checked, schools had chairs in Europe. But looking around, he barely spotted a handful, and most people were either standing or perched on the edge of the elevated stage at the far end of the room.

The man seemed to catch his thought. “Yeah, apparently not a single teacher with a room key lives in this neighborhood.”

“Looking at these kids, I get why.”

Firefighter-guy burst out laughing. He was even more handsome with his face all lit up. He also probably had a wife and a few children running around the place – after all, who else lived in a neighborhood like this?

Billy sighed. “And to think I moved here for the quiet...”

That just made the man shake harder. Even a few of the other people were looking now, and despite the fact that they weren’t looking at _him_ , it made Billy uncomfortable. He thought about nudging the man – which also felt weird considering they had just met – when Firefighter-guy got himself under control. His cheeks were an uneven shade of red.

“I assure you, it’s not always this crazy around here. Although –” He suddenly looked thoughtful. It was pretty cute. “This is not the first time they found a bomb. It probably won’t be the last.”

“I feel like I should move,” Billy deadpanned.

Firefighter-guy’s eyes sparkled. “Ah, it’s not that bad. What’s life without a little crazy, right?”

Unexpectedly, Billy found himself smiling back. He turned to survey the crowd around them, looking for something to say. “I can’t believe all these people live in my street.”

“I think most of them live at their offices. They’re just here for bragging rights.”

Billy cocked an eyebrow. “Then why is no one talking to you?”

Firefigher-guy smirked. “You are.”

“You literally have my back against a wall.”

“You put yourself there, looking all lonely and in need of a drink.”

A thrill ran down Billy’s spine. Probably no wife and kids, then. He leaned in a little. “Are you supposed to hit on people while on duty?”

“I see you’re not disagreeing,” Firefighter-guy said, rising to the challenge. “I guess that means it’s working. By the way, I’m Vasquez.”

“Rocks.”

“You’re supposed to say your name back, cabrón.”

Billy smirked. “Where’s my drink?”

They got another round of cokes and Billy forgot about the squealing kids and the sweltering heat for a while. Vasquez was entertaining. And genuinely charming when he put his back into it, not to mention that talking to him was relaxing. By the time they announced it was safe to go back home, Billy was stunned by how quickly the wait had passed. 

“Looks like I got some work to do,” Vasquez said, holding out his hand for Billy’s glass. “I might not be good enough for the actual work, but anyone can do clean-up.”

Somehow, the idea of going back to his dark, lonely house didn’t appeal as much as it had before. Which was a little ridiculous, because it was not possible to get attached to someone in the span of two hours. It had just... felt really good to have an actual person to talk to for a while. That was it.

Billy gave him the glass. “You sound happy for a guy sentenced to clean-up duty.”

“Maybe I’m hoping you’ll stay and help.”

Warmth rose to Billy’s cheeks and he turned away to hide it. “... No, thanks?”

It was time to leave. He grabbed his bag off the floor, surprised at how heavy it was. Or maybe that was just him. But _not_ , he resolutely told himself, because he didn’t want to go. In any case, with the sun finally setting on the horizon and the cool of night draining the heat from the asphalt, this strange afternoon was over. He swung the backpack onto his shoulder. “See you around, I guess.”

“Wait.”

Billy tensed at the sharpness in his tone. He turned, slowly. “Yeah?”

Vasquez’ mouth twitched. “You weren’t gonna leave without giving me your number, right? You wouldn’t wanna miss that barbecue.”

“If… if your yard’s still standing.”

Billy’s heart was definitely not beating a little harder when he pulled out his phone. Definitely not. And if it was, that was probably just the heat.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: wanderingsmith. Thank you!


End file.
